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| Sunday, 16 October 2005 |
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Compassion: Yellow robe robber and his punishment Sunday Parable by Sunanda Mahendra 'I have come to offer these yellow robes to you reverend sir as I see that you are in need of them. Please accept these yellow robes,' said the pious man who came to see the forest-dwelling monk, who had dedicated his whole life to meditation.
The offering "May all good merits be bestowed on you," said the monk pensively, making a sign to indicate the yellow robes be kept in a nearby corner of the forest abode. "I cannot understand why the forest dwelling monk does not wear the yellow robes offered by me," thought the pious man when he visited the forest abode the next day and saw the same old robes were worn by the monk. I must offer the monk another yellow robe, who knows what has happened to the earlier one?" Having thought thus he bought another yellow robe and offered that too to the forest dwelling monk. But to his great dismay the monk was not seen wearing any one of the robes offered to him. Instead, the monk was clad in a tattered old yellow robe which he deemed as unfit especially during the rainy season (vassana kalaya). The pious man was rather reluctant to question as to why he does not wear the robes offered by him out of sheer faith. So he looked all around to see whether the robes offered by him were lying in the abode. He did not see a single robe. "I must hide somewhere and see what is happening to the yellow robes," he thought. Then he offered one more yellow robe and went off and hid behind a bush nearby with a club in his hand. At this time, there lived a robber named Harantika in the village. Villagers knew him as a robber but nobody cared to catch him or punish him. When the pious man stayed patiently hiding himself behind the bush for a while, Harantika was slowly walking towards the forest abode of the monk, who was sunk deep in meditation. This was close upon midnight when everything around was enveloped in silence with the exception of a certain sleepless bird chirping once in a while. Harantika, the robber, looked around and lifted the yellow robe from the abode. Thief caught Then he tucked the yellow robe under his arm and looked around once again surreptitiously. When Harantika walked out of the abode, the pious man who was hiding behind the bush jumped out and caught hold of him tightly and gave him severe blows with his club saying that this is not only an act of sin but also a grave robbery for which the punishment should be severe than this. Harantika was smeared with blood. Then he gagged his mouth with leaves disallowing him to shout thinking that the meditation of the monk will be disturbed. Then he picked some creepers from a nearby tree and tied his hands. Harantika was manhandled to the extent that he was taken to the open charnel field (amusohona) where dead bodies were cast away to be eaten by animals like jackals and wolves. A newly thrown out dead body was picked and was tied tightly upside down (head down and the two legs kept up) on the back of Harantika showing a cadaverous figure of a devil. "So you are the yellow robe robber I was looking for?" said the pious man nodding his head. So the pious man left him in the lurch and came to the village to make a loud announcement. "Listen to me you village folks! There is a devil walking around the village. Beware of him and see that he is not entertained by any one of you. He may appear at your doorstep and plead with you, to help him. But see that he is not helped because he is a man eating devil. See that you keep away from that devil. Keep your doors and windows shut." With severe bodily pains, Harantika slowly walked towards his own house where his wife and children lived. Having come to the compound he shouted "I am Harantika, dear wife please open the door for me to enter the house." But the wife of Harantika who heard the announcement earlier was fear struck and as such she did not want to open the door. "Can't you hear me and can't you recognise my voice? Please open the door." The wife of Harantika looked through a half opened window and saw a shadow of a man who looked like her husband but with a dead body tied behind the back. "This is indeed a devil! A man eating devil!" she thought. Then the robber Harantika was seen moving away from his own compound. Harantika went to a neighbouring house and pleaded with them. "Please help me! I am your friend Harantika I am in trouble please allow me in." But the neighbours saw a devilish figure and remembered the announcement made by the pious man. Nobody cared to help Harantika as they all thought that this is really a devil who had come to eat them. Then Harantika slowly went back to the forest in order to seek the help of the monk. This was in the early hours of the morning and the monk was walking in a meditative mood when the robber Harantika appeared before him. Pleading "Please release me from this bond, Oh great reverend, I have been punished for robbing your yellow robes," said the robber Harantika grieving and repenting. The monk looked at Harantika from top to bottom and realised what had happened. "Let me help you, said the monk untying the dead body from the back and releasing him. Then the monk applied some medicinal oil on his body where he was battered heavily. At this moment, the pious man appeared and saw to his surprise what the monk was engaged in. Compassion "Reverend sir, this is the robber of your yellow robes. I caught him red handed but you show him compassion. This is unbelievable," said the pious man. "That's true upasaka. I am a monk and I have to adhere to some laws of compassion (maitreya). Well the crust of the matter is that he will no longer be a robber as he had got the necessary punishment and now he has realised the consequences," said the monk caring for the robber. The monk never questioned the robber as to why he robbed the robes but instead, made the robber understand that he knew it. "Now, you may go home and join your relatives," said the monk. "No reverend sir, please let me be your helper and allow me to make up my mind to enter your order of sanctity," said Harantika. "You may stay here as long as you want." Said the monk and turned towards the pious man. "Now, you be his good friend and pardon him for all his human follies." |
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The pious man offered the yellow robes when he saw the monk wearing the
same old and tattered robes, day in day out which he thought will not help
him to protect his body from the harsh weather. 
